Rise of Evil
by CrazyRedQueen
Summary: Merlin has a lot of enemies and has done some f*cked up stuff, but no one deserves this.
1. Merlin vs Grayroad

**Rise of Evil**

 **Summary: What if Merlin really was evil? What if she was the traitor amongst the Seven Deadly Sins? What would happen if during her battle with Grayroad her suppressed demonic powers were unleashed?**

 **A/N: Completely AU from the point of where she shows up to fight Grayroad. No trigger warnings apply for this story. Enjoy :)**

Chapter One:

Giant ice sculptures seemed to rip through the earth itself as they froze the residents of the castle in their eggs, preventing them from hatching or hitting the ground.

The two present Ten Commandments' eyes widened (well, Dreyfus' did... not much to say about Grayroad's) as they were frozen and a new person joined the party.

She was scantily clad in purple clothing, had yellow eyes, and short black hair. A knowing smirk donned her face as if she knew everything.

"What... what is this imposing magical power?!" Dreyfus roared in panic at the sudden intrusion of ice, to which the floating woman in the sky chuckled and responded, "you flatter me.. this is just some run-of-the-mill magic," she gestured at nothing with her hand, giving an air of nonchalance about her.

Grayroad seemed to be going around in a bunch of different directions in panic and Dreyfus stood stock still in a fighting stance. She smiled, showing her pearly white teeth, saying in an almost sultry voice, "now then, Ten Commandments, it's time I made you my personal guinea pigs."

Grayroad shot a bolt of magic out in Merlin's direction only for it to be taken by Howzer, instead, as he threw himself in front of her as a human shield. He fell to the floor with a _thud_ after it hit him, and Merlin and Hendrickson gathered around him, calling his name as he babbled on about not being able to see or hear or feel etc.

Merlin nodded thoughtfully as she concluded, "it seems he's lost function of all five of his senses..." she whispered something almost inaudible and nearly effective immediately Howzer sat up, knocking his head against Hendrickson's chin on his way up.

He looked around and felt his face frantically as he smiled goofily, laughing at regaining his five senses. Hendrickson shook his head, rubbing his chin as he and Merlin both stood up.

Merlin returned to her position hovering in the air so she was level with her enemy. She frowned and her brows creased as she listened to Grayroad speak to Dreyfus of her danger.

She looked up and Dreyfus and Grayroad immediately stopped their attacks at the noticeable difference in her. Her eyes were no longer their beautiful gold colour, no. Now they were a deep black. It looked as if you could almost get lost in them. As if they were the entrance to the depths of Hell themselves. They couldn't see it from their position but if they had looked close enough they would have seen the deep red streak that was now in her hair underneath.

Dreyfus looked up to Grayroad to see hi reaction to this new change in character from her and saw that he was just as confused as he was on the matter.

"What is this new change in physical appearance?" Grayroad questioned Dreyfus and Merlin, completely baffled. Dreyfus shook his head indicating he was just as confused as he was on the matter.

Merlin only smirked at their confusion even more as she allowed them to continue their conversation.

One of Grayroad's many 'faces' opened its mouth allowing a swarm of insects to fly out of it and straight at Merlin. She tilted her head the tiniest bit in disbelief, "insects?" She questioned, scoffing.

She lazily lifted an arm and, predicting her next move, she heard Ban yell, "Merlin! Don't use that!" But it was too late, she had already used **Exterminate Ray** to destroy every last insect that flew towards her and practically wipe off the face of the one who launched the insect attack.

The sound of chuckling made her raise a perfect eyebrow and look at Grayroad and Dreyfus. "Now you're finished," she heard Grayroad say, "those who break my commandment, "thou shalt not kill", shall have their time taken away from them until they crumble to dust," he continued with a victorious laugh.

She once again heard Ban yelling her name but after a few seconds of nothing happening, Grayroad said, "it can't be..." she smirked and folded her arms across her chest as she looked at the two Ten Commandments' dumbstruck faces. "As intriguing and interesting as your Commandment is, it shall have no such effect on me," she explained.

Ban came round so he was in her line of view and started, "Merlin then yo- what the hell happened to your eyes?!" He yelled instead. She didn't take them off her enemies as she used her magic to teleport him behind her.

Grayroad and Dreyfus looked frantic now, confused as to what was happening, "why aren't you changing?!" Grayroad demanded. She chuckled at his desperation and allowed herself a moment to explain, "I needed new knowledge. I needed to learn everything there is to learn. But, as I'm sure you know, a human's life is finite and limited. There would never be enough time and my lust for knowledge and wisdom was growing exponentially. Then it occurred to me, I needed to stop my own time," there was a chorus of people repeating her last words in shock.

"Impossible!" Grayroad yelled out in disbelief and she merely continued smirking. " **Infinity** ," she said, "that is the magical power I possess. No matter how powerful a magic is, all I need to do is invoke it just once and I can keep flames burning... ice frozen. As long as I, myself, do not release the spell, of course," she explained nonchalantly.

Dreyfus growled in anger and took a step forward, pointing a finger at her, "be that as it may. You still haven't explained how you released yourself after being turned to stone by Garan!" He yelled. She smirked at their fear, "it wasn't easy, it took me a considerable amount of time before I could return to normal. Even I panicked even if for a moment. But then I realised, I had been given a natural resistance to the Ten Commandments to begin with," she said proudly.

The shock clearly registered on the two Ten Commandments' face as she said those words. How could a mere human have a resistance to the Ten Commandments' curses?! It was preposterous!

"It was so long ago," she continued, however, disregarding their shock, "such a long time had passed, in fact, it seems everyone has forgotten my true identity," she waited for a moment before dropping the bomb, "none other than Belialuin's daughter," Merlin claimed, staring emotionless at Grayroad and Dreyfus. "B- Belialuin's daughter?!" They both roared in response.

"We're supposed to just take your word that you're that survivor?!" Dreyfus continued ranting as Grayroad internally panicked. She continued staring at them both panic as she announced, "my true name is... [Merlin's true name]," at the sound of her name, both the Commandments' eyes widened, "then it's true then... there's no doubt about it," Dreyfus said whilst Grayroad floated next to him trying to think of a way out of this predicament.

Merlin donned a fighting stance, preparing to use her **Endless Whirl** on Grayroad and turn him into her experiment guinea pig. Grayroad started pulling himself in different directions as he attempted to leave and argued with himself on which way he should go.

"Not that way, you fool," Merlin heard before she saw Grayroad had successfully pulled himself apart into several different bodies with the same face. She mentally praised his determination but tsked his stupidity. "I don't remember saying you could leave," she told him in the most chilling voice as it sent shivers up everyone's spines.

Using **Endless Whirl** , everyone else watched on in terror but fascination as Grayroad was forcefully sucked into something resembling a tornado.

The 'tornado' slowly got smaller and smaller until it eventually went inside a test tube Merlin now held in her hands. She put a bung in the test tube and looked inside the test tube at what now resided in it, "mmm, I've gotten my hands on quite the scrumptious guinea pig..."


	2. Awakening

**Rise of Evil**

Chapter Two:

Meliodas had turned up and literally destroyed the Commandment living inside of him. Merlin had enclosed everyone in one of her Perfect Cubes to keep them safe. Not that she cared if they were, in her current state.

Now that the Commandment living inside of Dreyfus had successfully been defeated, along with Grayroad, everyone could finally let out a breath of relief.

Merlin used **Absolute Cancel** on her **Perfect Cube** after lowering it to the ground, as she herself decended from the air and landed, tightly clutching the vial cotaining Grayroad in her hand.

Her eyes were still a terrifying pitch black and the red streak in her hair remained. She looked around at the many relieved faces as they prayed to the Goddesses, thanking them for sparing them.

She scoffed and slowly started to make her way to Meliodas, stumbling slightly on a few rocks. She felt Ban's eyes trained on her and briefly considered turning around and staring back, but she remembered she needed to get to the Captain.

She was almost there when a horrifying sharp pain shot through her head and her eyes widened as she screamed out in agony. She put her free hand to her head where the pain was and fell to her knees, still screaming.

There was a distant sound of footsteps growing closer and closer and suddenly it was all too loud, all she could hear. She mumbled out for it all to stop, for everyone to be quiet because they were making the pain worse but they didn't listen.

The vial dropped from her hand and rolled away a few feet and she reached out to grab it, only for someone to take her hand in theirs. She tried to pull away as she continuously hit her head with her other hand to try and get rid of the pain but it was no use. Whoever was holding her hand wouldn't let go and she soon gave up trying to pull away when everything started spinning.

\--

Her eyes fluttered open and the first thing she was a blinding light, causing her to immediately close her eyes to block it out.

There was whispering coming from somewhere near her and she strained her ears to listen to it. She couldn't identify the voices but she knew they were both male, which left few options of who it could be; it was either Captain, Ban, or Gowther. She hoped, anyway.

Now she just had to figure out what they were saying. She caught a few hushed words such as; "eyes", "scary", "ruthless", "dangerous". She didn't know what they were talking about or who, even, but she was done playing dead.

She opened her eyes to see the Captain and Ban by the window in her bedroom, still whispering to each other, and gave a short cough. They both turned to look at her at the same time and saw her sat up in bed with a skirk on her face and pitch black eyes, a new red streak in her hair, this time at the top. "Believe me now, Cap'n?" Ban asked, slowly edging his way to the exit.


	3. Control

**Rise of Evil**

Chapter Three:

Meliodas stood staring at his comrade and friend in shock and confusion. What on Earth was this sudden change? He wondered as he slowly drew out his sword, weilding it in front of him. "Cap'n, what are you doing? This is Merlin, you can't risk hurting her," Ban protested, moving back towards Meliodas to try and get him to put his sword away. The Captain shot him a look that said 'don't try anything', then moved towards Merlin.

When he was in front of her, he got a proper look at her. Her complexion was paler than usual, her eyes were black, there were two seperate red streaks in her hair, and her Boar symbol now held two horns and was as black as her eyes.

Her head tilted slightly as the Captain moved forward, brandishing a sword at her, but she remained seated on the bed, unafraid. "You're no going to use that sword on me, are you, Captain?" She asked in a mock sweet voice. Meliodas' grip tightened on the sword hilt to remind himself not to lower it just because this thing took on the appearance of his comrade.

He held it higher and donned a fighting stance, "if I have to," he said, sternly, "now, who are you and what do you want with Merlin?" He asked, quickly moving forward and putting the blade against her neck to let her know he was serious. He felt Ban tense behind him, wanting to do something even though he stayed rooted to the spot.

"Whatever do you mean, Captain? I _am_ Merlin," she said, gently moving the blade from her throat. The Captain held the sword by his side, relaxing the tiniest bit although he was ready to fight should she attack.

She continued smirking at him in a mocking way and he watched her for what felt like the longest time. "You're not Merlin," he told her, tightening his hold on his sword. "I am, Captain. And the sooner you realise that, the better," she said in a voice that sounded like she might be consoling him.

A person rushed into the room, the door slamming into the wall. All three people turned their heads towards the intruder and saw the Lion Sin of Pride, Escanor, in the door way, panting for breath as if he had run a marathon getting there.

He frantically pointed in the direction of the staircase behind him, desperately trying to ge words out. The Captain walked forward, putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking him frantically. "M-monsters.. monsters downstairs.. attacking," he eventually managed to get out, to which he was pushed aside as the Captain and Ban ran downstairs to see what was going on.

Escanor was left upstairs with Merlin as she sat there staring at him in amusement with her smirk still plastered to her face.

She stood up and Escanor straightened in fear at this new person standing before him. She walked passed him, out the door and stopped when her body was practically touching his own. He gulped at how close they were and when she continued walking, he let out a breath of relief and ultimately fainted.

Downstairs was complete and utter chaos, there was black creatures crawling through the windows and flying though the door. Any entrance they could find. Everyone was doing their best to kill the creatures but for everyone they killed, a new one flew in.

Merlin could see King attacking several at once with his Chastiefold, Diane was outside, also killing several, with her hammer, the Captain was taking them head on, killing them with his sword he had recently regained, and Ban was using his (something) to tear out their, also black, hearts.

She couldn't see Elizabeth or Hawk and sighed in disappointment. Although, she continued watching the chaos in front of her with a smirk.

Meliodas turned towards her and saw her stood watching. He growled and flipped over the tables until he was at the staircase with her. "Is this your doing?!" He asked, warding off some more of the creatures and standing on one that crawled towards him. She looked at the, now dead, creature beneath his foot and then back to him, "of course it is, Captain," she said, rising into the air. With one silent command, the monsters all made their way towards Meliodas.

He heard the sound of thousands of wings flapping towards him and th scurrying of the ones on the floor and immediately turned around to see multitudes of black monsters coming at him.

As he held his sword out to attack, Merlin held a hand out and they stopped, an inch away from him. She lowered herself back to the ground and stood next to the Captain. Leaning over, she whispered to him, "now here are my terms, Meliodas..." the other Sins in the room watched with baited breath as their Captain's face went from one of intent concentration to one of resigned fury.

Merlin pulled away and waited for his answer. He was silent for a moment as he considered his options, before he replied, "fine," he said in a low voice, looking up at the woman who had somehow taken control of everything in mere minutes.


	4. Merlin vs King and Meliodas

**Rise of Evil**

Chapter Four:

Over the next week, things at the Boar Hat changed. The atmosphere had become tense, everyone afraid not only _for_ Merlin, but _of_ her.

She would taunt and mock them as they all gathered and made plans for their fight with the Ten Commandments. She was no longer allowed to participate in the meetings between the Sins, Captain's orders. When he had told her this, a look of determination on his face, she had grown angry (deep down inside a little betrayed, too), but she soon replaced her frown with a smile and walked away with a quick "fine," in the Captain's direction.

On the seventh day of Merlin's, what looked to be possession, she had cornered King, growing hungry for a battle after being cooped up in the tavern for so long.

Knowing in a battle with King the chances of her winning were in her favour, she had teleported both him and her outside of the tavern into the open area.

King had exclaimed in fear that he didn't want to fight her, not only because she was powerful but because she was his comrade. She had sneered at his weakness, telling him he wasn't fit to be Fairy King, which earned her a look of hurt and anger from him.

Of course, just as they were about to fight (after a lot of insults from Merlin), the _Captain_ had to show up. He had grown angry with her, living up to his namesake, as he yelled at her to stop it and get the stupid idea of fighting King out of her mind.

Determined, she encased herself and the Fairy King in her **Perfect Cube** , informing the fearful fairy that it wasn't over until there was a winner.

This is where they found themselves right now, King and Merlin closed off in the mage's **Cube** , Meliodas outside of it yelling at her, and the rest of the Sins and Elizabeth and Hawk now joining the trio outside.

"Merlin, stop this! He doesn't want to fight you!" Roared Meliodas as he focused his strongest attack on the **Perfect Cube** in a vain attempt to destroy it.

Ignoring the attack on the **Cube** she lifted an arm towards the Fairy King, getting ready for her own attack. She searched her mind for what she thought would be the perfect spell to use.

She smiled slightly as she thought of the perfect one to start with. She had already anticipated King's move when she made her own, and if she used the spell she had chosen, the rest of the fight should be in her favour.

Floating off the ground to mirror King, she held out her other arm to cast her spell, " **Icicle Castle**!" From her hands shot ice, heading straight for King. In defense he used his Chastiefol to block the attack, said Chastiefol getting hit with the ice instead and immediately freezing.

Smiling at being able to predict King's move, she sent an invisible force at his Chastiefol, destroying it before it could get out of the ice.

She watched it shatter to pieces in glee, only being drawn from her thoughts by King's scream. She looked at him as tears came to his eyes at what she had done to his Sacred Treasure.

He floated back to the ground and she stared at him from her position above him. "I repeat, I don't want to fight you, Merlin," he said, looking down at the floor, "you're not yourself right now, and I know that. So, I forgive you for what you've done this past week, but I fear the longer you're like this, the worse you're going to get," he wiped a tear from his face with his sleeve as he looked at the pieces of his Chastiefol on the floor. "And I don't want you to do something you'll regret because... we might not be able to forgive you," he told her, looking up at her with sadness.

Her brows furrowed in confusion and slight pain, and she allowed herself a moment to listen to King as she lowered herself to the ground.

Feeling a bit more confident, King walked a bit closer to her. "Merlin, you're my comrade, my friend, and you comforted me when I had to kill my best friend when no one else would. You said you understood what it was like to have to kill someone you love, and when you said that, my respect for you grew," seeing no sign of hostility in her, he moved forward a bit more. "I don't know what's happening to you, Merlin, but me and the others are worried for you, we're scared. We don't know how to help you, and I'm scared that if we fight you, we'll lose you. Every last bit of humanity that might have lingered in you. And I don't want to lose a teammate, or a friend," he finished and put a hand to his head, resigned to the fact that she might kill him now.

He was confused, however, when he saw her fall to the floor and land on her knees. Her hands went to her head as she clenched her jaw and silent tears ran down her face. He knelt in front of her and reached out a hand to place on her shoulder. She quickly batted it away, mumbling, "don't touch me, I don't know what I might do."

He was relieved to know that he had gotten through to her and made her see sense. "Merlin, can you let us out of the **Cube**?" He asked to which she minutely shook her head. It was so subtle he almost didn't see it. He guessed it must have hurt her to move her head too much. "Why not?" He questioned her in confusion as he stood up abruptly. She flinched at the sudden movement, for a split second fearful he was going to kill her. "I can only let you out of here," she explained, "I'm still a danger to you and everyone else and I can't risk hurting you," she finally looked up at him to see him staring at her with pitiful eyes.

Eventually, though, he nodded in understanding and asked her to let him out. She stood up and wiped her cheeks to dry the tears, floating up into the air again as she lowered the **Perfect Cube** to the ground, much to the relief of everyone who had spectated the interaction from outside the **Cube**.

In seconds the **Cube** disappeared, allowing King to fly back over to Diane (who had been taking the pills Merlin made for her). Meliodas smiled at Merlin releasing King and immediately started to walk over to the mage.

Before he could reach her, however, she quickly cast her **Perfect Cube** spell, preventing Meliodas from reaching her.

"Merlin, what are you doing? You don't need to be in there anymore," he told her, stopping just in front of the pink square that could keep out a tsunami. "I'm still not myself, Captain. I was barely able to set King free before I did something I'd regret later," she explained, taking a seat on the floor. Meliodas tilted his head, brows furrowing, "but won't you be able to just undo the **Cube** in your... other state?" He asked as he put his hands on his hips. "Yes," she replied, "which is why I ask you, now, Captain, to leave. Don't tell me where you're going, just leave," she closed her eyes and sighed as she put her head in her hands.

Just when she thought the Captain was considering it, she heard, "no, we leave together or we don't leave at all." She looked at him in shock and disbelief, how could he be so stupid?

"But I don't want to hurt any of you, Captain. I just almost killed King," she pointed out.

"I know, but we don't want to lose you, Merlin. And King is fine, see," Meliodas pointed at King who was stood in the background tensely. With a huge sigh, Merlin put a hand to her forehead and tried to ease the growing headache.

"Fine," she relented and got rid of her **Perfect Cube** "fine," she repeated, "but, Captain, I need to speak to you alone for a moment." Meliodas nodded his head and started walking away from the others, waiting for Merlin to follow him.

He stopped by a large tree nearby and looked at the pale mage who had just reached him. "What did you want to talk about?" He started. Merlin had a solemn look on her face as she kept her eyes on the floor. "I wanted to ask a favour, Captain," she said. Meliodas had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind about what she might ask. "Sure, anything, Merlin," he agreed anyway.

"I want you to promise me that... if I get out of control and I try to hurt any of you again, that you'll kill me," she requested. Meliodas was stricken to say the least. To have one of his longtime friends and teammates ask something like this from him... he didn't know whether to agree or not. He had known Merlin since she was a child, since she stood staring at the ruins of Belialuin, since her father stepped into Purgatory for only a few minutes and returned an invalid. He didn't know if he could do it.

"Okay. But it won't come to that, I promise. We'll save you," he swore, setting his jaw in determination. "I hope not," Merlin finally lifted her head to meet Meliodas' eyes. His breath caught in his chest when he saw the now-familiar black eyes of his friend. The corner of her mouth lifted up into a smirk.

"I like this body. Your friend has a lot of interesting memories and thoughts. Did you know on a few occasions she even considered leaving the Seven Deadly Sins and joining your father? I mean, with the immunity to the Commandments and any demonic curses she was given when she was a child, whatcould The Demon King offer her?

"Sin of Gluttony, eh? You know, I think she should be the Sin of Greed, not that immortal piece of trash over there," the _thing_ possessing his friend said. It was getting increasingly hard to not let the demonic part of him come out. He had to remember that though this thing was mocking and hurting his friend, it was in her body and any damage he caused to her actually hurt her.

"Let's dance, _Captain_ ," the _thing_ challenged. With that, the thing raised Merlin's arms and used her magic (with a hint of their own, he noticed) to throw him back as far as they could. He was thrown through the tree they were stood by and he wouldn't have stopped if it hadn't been for a cliff face nearby. His body hit it with exceptional force and he closed his eyes against the slight pain now radiating from his back.

From his position now on the floor, he heard the concerned and scared shouts from his teammates and friends. It was clear they wanted to get involved, but they were unsure of whether he wanted help. He got up from he floor with effort and started walking back. He was going to try and anger this thing possessing his friend and try and find out what their motive was.

He eventually made it back to his friends and stood stoically in front of Merlin. He made no move to grab his sword or even take up a fighting stance. Merlin watched him carefully, clearly anticipating an attack any moment. When the thing realised he wasn't going to attack any time soon, it grunted in annoyance.

One minute Merlin was in front of him, the next she was gone. He looked around frantically to find her only to see her now stood with his friends. She grabbed hold of Elizabeth and carefully walked back to him, Elizabeth still in her arms. There was a ten second 'recharge session' that Merlin's teleportation magic had to take before she could use it again, and it seemed this thing knew that and had decided to practically drag Elizabeth with it back over to Meliodas.

"Let her go! Now!" Meliodas roared, unsheething his sword and aiming it at Merlin. She smirked at finally having gotten a reaction from him and pulled Elizabeth flush against her, putting a hand around the girl's throat. "Fight me, Meliodas," she hissed. He honestly had no idea Merlin's voice could sound so chilling. He had no choice but to listen to this thing if he didn't want Elizabeth to get hurt or die again.

He nodded mutely, then, "okay, just let her go." The thing had enough brains to listen to not hurt he people he loved, so it let Elizabeth go and teleported her back to the others where Hawk frantically started checking over her to make sure she was okay. He could always rely on Hawk to make sure Elizabeth was well.

His attention was drawn back to Merlin when she started chuckling lowly and lifted both hands in the air, clearly summoning up some kind of power or spell to start the battle. He would try not to hurt her too much for fear of killing Merlin herself rather than the thing inside of her. However, should things become heated; he might actually have to follow up on the promise he had made Merlin earlier and kill both her and the thing inside of her if he could.

"Prepare to die, _demon,_ " it said and with that, it launched its attack.

" **Fire Storm**!"

" **Full counter**!"


	5. Haunting Past

**Rise of Evil**

Chapter Four:

" **Fire Storm!** "

" **Full Counter!** " Meliodas yelled when he heard which spell the thing in his friend's body had chosen.

The second he yelled his counter attack, the fire changed its course and started heading back towards Merlin but at twice its original power.

From Meliodas' point of view, the fire blocked Merlin, meaning he couldn't see her, and didn't know if she had been hit by the fire.

He waited imaptiently for all of the fire to disperse. When it did, he saw that the thing in his Merlin's body had barely put up a **Perfect Cube** in timeto protect itself from the flames.

The two engaged in battle, giving everthing they had. Meliodas tried to refrain from attacking because to him, it _looked_ like he was fighting Merlin and that kept playing on his mind. He wanted to destroy this thing inside of her, but he didn't want to hurt his friend and comrade.

The thing possessing Merlin was throwing every attack they could think of that they knew Merlin could use, proving to be an almost worthy opponent. Of course, they had to keep blocking Meliodas' counter attacks because he refused to actually attack the thing that took on the appearance of Merlin.

"Who are you?" Meliodas growled out when he finally gained the upperhand and held his sword at 'Merlin's' throat.

She smirked, seemingly unfazed by this, and answered, "an old friend of Merlin's." Meliodas' brows furrowed in confusion as he pressed the sword a little bit harder.

"If you're 'an old friend', why are you doing this to her?" He further questioned in anger.

"Let's just say I have a grudge against her," it answered and tilted her head up, giving more access to Merlin's throat and daring Meliodas to do something.

"What could she have done to deserve this?" He pressed. There were a lot of terrible things Merlin had done in her life, Meliodas silently admitted to himself, but he couldn't imagine her doing anything that could warrant this.

Instead of answering him, the thing used an invisible force to throw Meliodas back a few feet, causing him to leave a small cut on Merlin's throat when he did.

He watched silently as the thing stared at him with Merlin's golden eyes. All of a sudden, said eyes rolled back into her head and she fell out of her position in the sky as she passed out.

Meliodas took this as a sign that the thing possessing her had decided to retreat to the back of Merlin's mind for now and he ran forward to catch her before she hit the ground.

He laid her down gently on the floor as everyone else gathered around. He assessed the damage he had caused and came to the conclusion he would need Elizabeth's help to heal a few minor injuries.

Other than that and the possession, he decided she would be fine and she just needed rest. Meliodas picked Merlin up and headed straight for the Boar Hat to take her to her room.


	6. The Wait Is Over

**Rise of Evil**

Chapter Six;

Merlin had been unconscious since the fight between 'her' and Meliodas. It had been nearly a week and Elizabeth had healed both Sins after their battle, but Merlin hadn't moved an inch.

After the fight, Meliodas had been quick to take the mage to her room to rest. He waited a few hours by her bedside after they were both healed by the Princess, but he was forced to leave by said Princess so he could eat.

He eventually went back to check on her the next day, but there was no change- she was still unconscious. It became a routine for the Sin of Wrath. Wake up, get dressed, eat, check on Merlin at night, repeat.

By Saturday, Meliodas' nerves were shot. He couldn't think of any reason why the thing controlling his friend would want to keep her unconscious rather than torment him and the others.

He found himself reaching out to feel Merlin's pulse many times, just to be sure she was still with them. Occasionally her pulse would be a little erratic, but other than that, he found no other reason to worry.

Around nine pm, Meliodas trudged into Merlin's bedroom. He found his way to his usual seat next to her bed and dejectedly sat down on it. With a heavy sigh, he reached out and moved some hair out of her face.

He sat back and put his head in his hand, wondering when she would wake up. He was starting to get a sick feeling in his stomach with how anxious he was getting.

He swiped a hand over his face and looked back up at the unconscious form of Merlin. The twitch of her finger caught his attention causing him to immediately sit up straight in his seat. That was the most he'd seen her move in a week.

Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed her slender hand in his own as a sign of comfort. Slowly, by the second, a white glow grew and grew around her until eventually, it had completely engulfed her. Meliodas' hand that was holding Merlin's faltered before he tightened it again, refusing to let go.

Eventually, the white light died down and Meliodas blinked open his eyes to check his friend. What he saw before him surprised him, but at the same time he didn't. It was safe to say that when he looked up, he didn't expect to see a young version of Merlin. But then again, he thought, it was her true form.

The mage's smaller hand held his tighter so he put his other hand on top of the one he was holding. She carefully blinked open her eyes, mindful of the light and looked around.

As quick as lightning, Meliodas jumped from his chair, not letting go of Merlin's hand. She watched him carefully, taking in his thankful and relieved expression. Meliodas helped her sit up on the bed and gave her a brief hug which she returned with confusion.

"I'm so glad you're finally awake, Merlin," Meliodas enthused.

"'Finally'?" She questioned in her childlike, yet mature voice.

"You've been out for a week. Honestly, I thought you'd never wake up the way things were going," he admitted.

"It doesn't feel like a week, I thought I'd been unconscious for an hour or so," she said.

"Nope, it's been a week. Though I wouldn't complain if it had been an hour," he then chuckled.

"How are things with the others? Has there been any incidences?" She inquired whilst getting from the bed and walking over to a draw containing clothes.

"Not many, just a demon to kill here and there. Nothing we couldn't handle. Nothing to do with that thing that's been chasing after you, thankfully," he told her, looking away whilst she looked for clothes to that would fit her current form.

"Good," she hummed. There was a rustling and Meliodas assumed she'd found something to wear. She came back into view, this time wearing a purple, lace-trimmed, nighty without shoes. "Let's go tell the others I'm awake," she suggested and Meliodas nodded in return, following her out of her room.

 **A/N: Here's a short chapter involving Merlin and Meliodas. There'll be another chapter later on this evening.**


	7. Let's Talk To Her

**Rise of Evil**

Chapter Seven:

Meliodas and Merlin climbed down the stairs of the Boar Hat together, heading downstairs to see the others. Most of them were still awake despite it being late and the tavern already being closed for the night.

As they reached they bottom, they heard the chatter of their friends and looked over to see all but Diane and King. No surpise there, Meliodas thought with a small chuckle.

The two walked further into the room, catching the attention of their friends. All stared at the young Merlin floating in the air next to Meliodas. They were unsure whether or not it was actually Merlin or whatever had been tormenting her lately. When Meliodas smiled and gave a short wave, though, their own cheerful faces returned and they greeted the two.

Merlin floated over to one of the tables where Gowther and Ban sat, and took her own seat, hovering a few centimetres above it. Meliodas went over, yoo, but took his seat next to Elizabeth who had been sat with Escanor.

"It's so good to finally see you awake, Lady Merlin," Elizabeth happily said with a smile. Merlin returned her smile, "thank you, big sis sis," she blushed when she realised what she'd said and looked away slightly, but calmed down when Elizabeth only giggled lightly.

"So, what happened to whatever was possessing you? Did you defeat it? Is that why you were unconscious for so long?" Meliodas questioned hopefully.

"Unfortunately, no. I didn't defeat it. I spent the better part of my unconscious state being tormented by her... And it seems she's still after me," Merlin admitted regretfully.

"'Her'?" Ban repeated.

"Yes, I've figured out who it is," she looked down in what looked like shame and sighed. "Who is it?" Meliodas asked, "and what did you do to her?"

"She's someone I knew from Belialuin which means you won't be able to say her name and she was never given one in this language. She seems to hate me for something, but she won't tell me what," she told them, "but I have a pretty good idea."

"What do you think she's angry about?" Ban asked.

"... It doesn't matter. What matters is, is finding out a way to get her out of my head. It's getting tiring," Merlin joked, but everyone could see she was actually affected by thr whole ordeal.

Meliodas put his head in his hands as he thought, trying to think of any way he could help Merlin. Every idea he came up with had a flaw or weren't permanent solutions, though. "Maybe Gowther could go inside your head and talk to her, try and find out what her end game is," he then suggested hopefully.

"Gowther is not going inside my head," Merlin said point blank, looking at the doll next to her who had just been watching them talk. "Merlin, it's the only thing I can come up with right now. It's either that or you just let her keep possessing you until eventually you're no longer yourself or you die," Meliodas told her sternly. "There's nothing wrong with Gowther being in you mind, he's been in nearly all of ours," Merlin still didn't look convinced so he got up and went to sit next to her. "Look, we've all got stuff we'd never tell any of the others, stuff we're not proud of and want to keep a secret. Gowther's not gonna look at any of that stuff, he'll be focusing on finding _her_." Merlin determinedly stared at the table, deciding whether or not to allow Gowther to go into her mind.

After a long mental conversation with herself and a few negative inputs from _her_ in the back of her mind, Merlin decided she would allow Gowther into her head. She wanted _her_ out of her mind and to stop tormenting her as soon as possible.

"Fine," she said, "he can go into my mind and try and talk to her, see what she wants..." She trailed off, still unsure even after coming to the final decision. "Great! When do you want to do it?" Meliodas asked, clearly eager to help his friend with her trouble and get this over with. "I don't know, when do you want to do it, Gowther?" Merlin questioned and turned ro the pink haired man next to her. "I can do it now," he informed her without an expression in his face.

Merlin inwardly cringed, expecting that answer, but nodded anyway. "Okay, let's do it," she agreed.


	8. Inside the Mind of a Demon

The Sins and Elizabeth had relocated to Gowther's room which was decorated with hundreds of books, some lying on the floor as there wasn't much  
room elsewhere.

Merlin, still in her original form, was sat on the only available seat in the centre of the room. Gowther loomed above her with their height difference,  
still wearing his blank expression. If he was worried about going into Merlin's mind and talking to _her_ he didn't show it. The others were stood behind  
them, just in case something went wrong. Elizabeth had her hands clasped tightly in apprehension, Meliodas looked slightly worried, and Ban was just as expressionless as Gowther, but they could tell he was unsure about it all.

"Are you ready?" Gowther asked, his hands currently limp by his side.

"Yes," Merlin answered. It was an obvious lie.

Gowther nodded and lifted his hands to rest on either side of Merlin's head, his fingers lightly touching her temple. He closed his eyes in concentration  
as did Merlin a few seconds later. The room was almost silent, the only sound the heavy breathing of Merlin and Gowhther. The others watched tensely, focusing on the light movements behind Merlin and Gowther's eyeslids, seeing things they couldn't.

oOoOoOo

When Gowther entered Merlin's mind, he was greeted with the sight of burning land. Ashy dirt, crumbling buildings, bodies. Of all the things  
he'd expected when entering her mind, that hadn't been it. Despite the curiosity of why he was in a literal battlefield, he kept a neutral expression  
and started looking around for who was tormenting Merlin. He started a steady walk across the still burning land, respectfully stepping over the bodies and not looking at their bloody faces.

A noise to his left alerted him and he slowly turned around to see a young girl walking over to him. She looked similar to Merlin, with the black hair  
and gold eyes, but he knew it wasn't her. Instead of the purple child's dress Merlin wore when she was in her original form, this girl wore tattered  
trousers and a dirty woollen jumper. Her pale face was dirty from the smoke, and so were her bare feet.

"You must be Gowther," the girl stated confidently. Despite her appearance of a child, she sounded mature. Much like Merlin.

"That is correct," Gowther replied, fully turning his body to her. "Are you girl tormenting Merlin?"

"That is correct," the girl mocked with a small curtsey.

"Why are you doing it?" Gowther asked. He briefly wondered where Merlin was- it was her mind, after all- but the girl spoke again, distracting his  
train of thought.

"She deserves it, she's done things you could never imagine. She ruined mine and many others' lives," she hissed with unabated anger.

"What did she do to you?" Gowther questioned.

"She ruined my life," she repeated, not willing to explain just yet.

"How?"

"I've had enough of your questions, doll. Leave her to me," she said. And with that, she raised her arms, throwing Gowther back a bit. He felt no physical harm as he  
was in Merlin's mind, so he simply got back up and approached the girl again.

"Leave Merlin's mind. Stop taking over her body," Gowther ordered.

Suddenly, Merlin appeared beside the girl. Side by side, they looked almost exactly the same. If it hadn't been for the small height difference and the different clothes,  
Gowther might have been confused. His teammate had a blank expression on her face, making her look out of it. She didn't even look at him, she stared straight ahead  
as if he weren't even there.

"Or what?" The girl grinned, pulling Merlin close to her chest and wrapping a small hand around her throat.

oOoOoOo

Nearly an hour after entering Merlin's mind, Gowther forcefully pulled away from her, stumbling a bit. Meliodas reached out and steadied him, immediately noting how  
pale he was compared to usual. They were all distracted from Gowther's shaken look when Merlin took a sharp intake of breath and slumped forward in her chair. She  
was saved from falling off it when Meliodas moved away from the pink-haired doll to catch her.

"What's happened? Gowther, what happened?!" Meliodas demanded with wide eyes, cradling Merlin's small body in his lap. Gowther didn't answer, instead he crouched  
down next to them and put two cold fingers to Merlin's throat.


	9. Author's Note (Will Be Deleted Soon)

**Author's note: I'm so sorry about the lack of updates. Life has been kinda hectic lately, but I have been trying to keep on top of all of my unfinished stories. I'm aiming for an update on this story today (23/03/2019), but later on thia evening- don't worry, I haven't given up on this story, and it's almost finished now. As soon as I update, I'll delete this AN.** **Thank you to everyone that has been reading this story and waiting patiently for updates (I really appreciate it).**


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